As your body ages, it isn’t difficult to detect the changes. You get wrinkles. Your hair turns gray (or falls out). Your joints start to get stiff. Your skin becomes a bit droopy in places. Perhaps you begin to observe some fading of your hearing and eyesight. These signs are difficult to miss.
But it’s more difficult to see how aging affects your mind. You may observe that your memory isn’t as good as it used to be and that you have to begin noting significant dates on your calendar. Perhaps you find yourself spacing out more and missing important events. But unfortunately, you may not even notice this slow onset. And that hearing decline can be worsened by the psychological effects.
As you age, there are, fortunately, some exercises you can do to help your brain stay sharp. And you may even have a little bit of fun!
The relationship between cognition and hearing
Most people will slowly lose their hearing as they age (for a wide variety of reasons). This can result in a higher risk of cognitive decline. So what is the link between cognitive decline and hearing loss? Research reveals a number of hidden risks of hearing loss.
- There can be atrophy of the portion of the brain that processes sound when somebody has untreated hearing loss. Sometimes, it’s put to other uses, but in general, this isn’t very good for your cognitive health.
- A feeling of social isolation is often the outcome of untreated hearing loss. Due to this lack of social connection, you can begin to detect cognitive lapses as you disengage from the outside world.
- Neglected hearing loss can also bring about depression and other mental health problems. And the corresponding risk of cognitive decline can be increased by these mental issues.
So is dementia the outcome of hearing loss? Well, not directly. But mental decline, including dementia, will be more probable for an individual with neglected hearing loss. Those risks, however, can be greatly decreased by getting hearing loss treated. And, boosting your overall brain health (known medically as “cognition”) can minimize those risks even more. Think of it as a little bit of preventative medicine.
How to increase cognitive function
So, how can you be sure to boost your cognitive function and give your brain the workout it needs? Well, like any other part of your body, the amount and type of exercise you do go a long way. So here are some fun ways to exercise your brain and improve your sharpness.
Gardening
Growing your own vegetables and fruit is a tasty and satisfying hobby. Your cognition can be enhanced with this unique combination of hard work and deep thinking. This occurs for several reasons:
- Relief of anxiety and a little bit of serotonin. This can help keep mental health issues such as depression and anxiety in check.
- You get a bit of moderate physical activity. Improved blood flow is good for your brain and blood flow will be improved by moving buckets around and digging in the soil.
- As you’re working, you will have to think about what you’re doing. You have to assess the situation making use of planning and problem solving skills.
As an added bonus, you get healthy fruits and vegetables from your hobby. Of course, not all gardens have to be focused on food. You can grow flowers, wild grasses, cacti, or anything your green thumb desires!
Arts and crafts
Arts and crafts can be enjoyed by anybody regardless of artistic ability. You can make a simple sculpture using popsicle sticks. Or maybe you can make a really cool clay mug on a pottery wheel. With regard to exercising your brain, the medium matters much less than the process. That’s because arts and crafts (drawing, sculpting, building) tap into your imagination, your critical thinking skills, and your sense of aesthetics.
Here are a number of reasons why getting involved in arts and crafts will improve cognition:
- You have to make use of numerous fine motor skills. And while that might feel automatic, your brain and nervous system are really doing a lot of work. Over the long haul, your cognitive function will be healthier.
- You need to manage sensory input in real time and you will have to engage your imagination to do that. A lot of brain power is required to accomplish that. There are a number of activities that stimulate your imagination in exactly this way, so it provides a unique type of brain exercise.
- You have to think about what you’re doing as you do it. This type of real time thinking can help keep your mental processes limber and flexible.
Your talent level doesn’t really matter, whether you’re painting a work of art or doing a paint-by-numbers. The most relevant thing is keeping your brain sharp by engaging your imagination.
Swimming
Taking a swim can help you stay healthy in a number of ways! Plus, it’s always enjoyable to hop into the pool (especially when it’s so unrelentingly hot outside). But swimming isn’t only good for your physical health, it also has cognitive health benefits.
Any time you’re in the pool, you have to think a lot about spatial relations when you’re swimming. Obviously, slamming into somebody else in the pool wouldn’t be safe.
You also have to think about your rhythms. How long can you stay underwater before it’s time to breathe? Things like that. This is still a good mental exercise even if it’s going on in the background of your mind. And cognitive decline will advance more slowly when you take part in physical exercise because it helps get more blood to the brain.
Meditation
Just a little time for you and your mind. Meditation can help calm down your thoughts (and calm your sympathetic nervous system too). Sometimes known as mindfulness meditation, these techniques are made to help you focus on what you’re thinking. Meditation can help:
- Help you learn better
- Improve your attention span
- Improve your memory
You can become even more mindful of your mental faculties by getting involved in meditation.
Reading
It’s great for you to read! And even better than that, it’s really enjoyable. A book can take you anywhere according to that old saying. The bottom of the ocean, the ancient past, outer space, you can travel anywhere in a book. When you’re following along with a story, creating landscapes in your imagination, and mentally creating characters, you’re using lots of brain power. This is how reading engages a huge part of your brain. You’re forced to think a lot and use your imagination when you read.
Hence, one of the very best ways to improve the mind is reading. Imagination is needed to envision what’s going on, your memory to keep up with the plot, and when you complete the book, you get a rewarding dose of serotonin.
Spend some time every day to build your brain power by doing some reading, whether it’s fiction, science fiction, non-fiction, or whatever you like. And, for the record, audiobooks are basically as good as reading with your eyes.
Treat your hearing loss to reduce cognitive risks
Even if you do every single thing correctly, neglected hearing loss can keep increasing your risks of cognitive decline. But if you don’t get your hearing loss treated, even if you do all of these things, it will still be a difficult fight.
Your social skills, your thinking, and your memory and cognition will improve once you have your hearing loss addressed (normally with hearing aids).
Is hearing loss an issue for you? Reconnect your life by contacting us today for a hearing test.
